


Having Kittens

by Lilyliegh



Series: Arc-V Rarepair Week 2017 [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Just Add Kittens, M/M, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 04:38:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11433321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyliegh/pseuds/Lilyliegh
Summary: Having Yuugo as a college roommate brings all sorts of surprises.





	Having Kittens

**Author's Note:**

> for arc-v rarepair week: day 05: surprise. Yuugo is a ray of sunshine and can do no wrong, which is why it's so hard to say no to him when he gets himself in ridiculous situations.

When Yuuya started college, he thought his greatest challenge would be his studies. He signed up for acting classes, having known exactly what he wanted to be since he was a child. Starting university seemed like such an uncertain step towards a bright but frightening future. In high school, his friends had worried along with him: would university be the most difficult time of their lives? Surely the terrible entrance exams didn’t put their minds to ease.

However, having lived on campus for over a semester now, Yuuya can confidently say that his studies are the least of his worries, at least not compared to the other dilemmas he’s faced. For one, if he thought high school was a drama fest – no pun intended – then he is surprised to say that college features more angst and worrying than he could possibly imagine. Everyone comes to school sleep-deprived, overworked, and underfed, dragging themselves into cramped auditoriums. His studies are engaging enough to hold his attention, but life seems to sap away from him during midterms and finals.

And still these are minor concerns.

What challenges Yuuya most is his roommate. Yuuya thought he might end up with a silent, stewing roommate. He hoped for a cheerful, friendly roommate.

What he got was the most energetic, go-getter person on campus, and perhaps one of the loudest people he’s ever met. Yuugo, same age as him, same birthday too - he’d found out that information within the first hour of them living together. Yuugo was in his face the moment he burst through the door, and as much as Yuuya loves people, well … Yuugo is something else. 

For one, he’s impulsive. He’s come to Yuuya with enough ideas or troubles to fill entire diaries. He gets himself in situation Yuuya doesn’t even  _ know  _ how he’s come across, like the time Yuugo signed up for twenty different e-newsletters and didn’t know how to unsubscribe from them. Other times, Yuugo is curious, like when he got lost on the beach and called Yuuya from a payphone at two a.m. to come and pick him up. And finally, Yuugo is cocky. One time, Yuugo boasted that he could take six shots and still be sober … He failed miserably.

As much as Yuuya likes having Yuugo around, he’s a handful to be with. Yuugo certainly wasn’t what Yuuya was worried about when he decided to go to university. Nonetheless, he’s become the biggest, most frequent concern.

So when Yuugo stands outside of their dorm room door and says, “Uh, Yuuya, don’t open the door but I need to tell you something,” followed by the muffled sound of  _ mewling,  _ Yuuya heaves a great sigh. 

Yuugo is in trouble.

Yuuya throws open the door. At once, Yuugo shoves a cardboard box behind his back, ineffectively hiding the container yet shielding the  _ contents  _ from view. Not that the contents are particularly quiet; Yuuya can hear mews and cries, and several of them at that. Yuugo keeps the box behind him though and smiles with all his teeth showing. There are claw marks on his forearms and his cheeks are burning redder than Yuuya’s hair. 

“I said don’t open the door,” Yuugo says. Then, whispering, he adds, “I have a secret I need to show you.”

Yuuya smiles, trying to appear understanding. “I’m sure I can help you –”

“This is a big deal! It’s not just a single-fix. There were … and then –” Yuugo swallows. “Promise me you won’t be upset?”

Yuuya already knows what’s in the box, and dreading how many there are, but he smiles and nods. Yuugo trusts him and needs his help, and Yuuya doesn’t have anything but studying to do tonight. He might as well help Yuugo with whatever pickle he’s gotten himself into.

He doesn’t reveal the box at once; rather, Yuugo hesitates and chews his lip before spinning around to hide his face and show the crate. It’s a wooden box, the kind that fresh fruit and veggies come in, and lined with a patched-up blanket. Inside the padded crate are six black and white kittens. They must all be siblings from their similar markings.

Yuuya frowns. Just how did Yuugo come across a box of kittens, and nonetheless decided he should be the one to take him home? Yuugo has come home with the strangest of things, such as old car and motorcycle parts, but never before has Yuugo come home with anything  _ live.  _ Yuuya doesn’t know how to take care of kittens: he had pets growing up, but his mother took care of those, not him. His job had been to play with them and not pull their tails. Looking into the box, Yuuya feels overwhelmed at caring for so many precious lives.

He looks up at Yuugo. How the hell does Yuugo expect to care for so many cats? And that’s without bringing up the fact that they aren’t  _ allowed  _ to have pets in the dorms. If their RA came into their room and saw the kittens, they’d be in massive trouble. Room inspections are already terrifying enough when they have to hide Yuugo’s ‘treasures’; Yuuya does not need the added stress of hiding live animals too.

Yuugo has turned around to look at him now, eyes glimmering.

“Those are very sweet,” Yuuya tries to say –

“They’re ours!”

“ – but we can’t have pets. You know that.”

“I  _ know  _ that these kittens will die if I don’t take care of them.”

Yuuya shakes his head. “Go put them back. We can’t have pets in the dorms, and neither of us can hide this.”

“We don’t have to hide this,” Yuugo explains. He strokes one of the cats with his fingers. The kitten purrs, eyes closing in bliss. It’s such a sweet moment that Yuuya does feel his heart strings pulled by the gesture - and then he remembers the  _ pain  _ they will be in if they get caught, and he looks away. No, no pets. 

“We’d get caught,” Yuuya says. “You need to return them to where you found them –”

“Throw animals out to die?” Yuugo gasps. He hugs the crate close to his chest. “I thought you were better than that.”

Sighing again, Yuuya explains, “If room inspection saw the kittens, we’d be in so much shit. Please, Yuugo, take them to a shelter at least. There are people there who can watch the kittens and find them good homes.”

However, one other thing Yuuya has learned since moving in with Yuugo is that he is stubborn. When Yuugo has an idea in his mind, he sees it through to the end. Yuugo has pulled all-nighters to hand in A-grade papers and never feels the effects until the day after. When Yuugo sets his mind to building or creating, he doesn’t give up. Therefore, Yuuya already knows he’s lost the battle if Yuugo has brought the kittens home. 

He still can’t just accept those though.

“Were those even abandoned kittens?” Yuuya says. “How do I not know that you took those from someone’s backyard?”

“As if I would! These are my babies, and they’re coming into the house!” And before Yuuya can say more, Yuugo pushes past him with the crate and steps in the dorm. Once he’s through the door though, the real challenge begins: nowhere in this room is a safe place for kittens. Yuugo’s motorcycle equipment takes up half the room, spewn across the floor and balanced against the walls. They don’t have enough space on the desk for any of their textbooks, so those – along with their homework and binders – are stacked in piles on the opposite wall. They have one twin-sized bunk bed that still takes up too much space, and blankets and pillows are slipping off the mattress and onto the floor. 

The kittens are going to die in here.

Yuugo seems content though. He carries the crate over to his bed, pushing it to the top bunk. Yuuya can already picture one of the kittens falling to the ground and snapping its little neck.

“Uh, Yuugo, why don’t you make a nest for the kittens on the ground?” Yuuya says, hovering by the doorway with his teeth in his lip.

Yuugo interprets this as,  _ Put them on Yuuya’s bed,  _ and happily sets the kittens there. Yuuya groans. If the kittens pee on his blankets he is going to  _ strangle  _ Yuugo.

One by one Yuugo takes the kittens out of the crate and sets them down on the bed. They’re old enough to open their eyes and toddle around, stumbling like newborn animals along the bumpy blankets. Their large, blue eyes blink when they lift their heads to examine their new surroundings. None of the kittens look underfed or malnourished, further raising Yuuya’s suspicions that Yuugo just took someone’s kittens from their front porch. Maybe, Yuuya hopes, there were just kittens for sale and Yuugo just bought all of them from the goodness of his heart.

Yuugo buries his nose into one of the kittens’ soft black fur, sighing in elation.

“We really can’t keep kittens here,” Yuuya says again, “no matter how much you love them and promise to care for them.” In his mind, Yuuya is glad kittens are at least cute. Last semester Yuugo had brought in caterpillars, and when the cage got left open overnight, well …

For a moment, Yuugo doesn’t listen to him, face buried in the sheets. The kittens mewl around him, pressing their faces to his body and leaning in whenever Yuugo strokes them. Then, with a soft voice, Yuugo says, “Where else would they go though? They were just there under a tree, no one in sight. Someone abandoned them, Yuuya …”

Yuugo has a soft spot for people and animals. When someone is hurt or in danger, Yuugo will be there, barrelling through the doorway with snacks and movies and cuddles. When Yuuya was homesick last semester, Yuugo knew right away. They watched sketch comedy routines until the wee hours of the morning, even though Yuuya was certain he’d never told Yuugo how much he liked jokes. It’s as if Yuugo just  _ knows  _ how to help someone and when to do it.

“I just had to help …”

Yuuya understands. He doesn’t agree with Yuugo’s actions, but he understands the desire.

Settling down next to Yuugo, Yuuya reaches out a hand to stroke a kitten’s soft head. They’re too young to be without their mother, and they’ll need a lot of care. With both Yuugo and Yuuya enrolled as full-time students and both working part-time to pay off their loans, neither of them have the time or money to help these kittens. The vet bills alone will put them both in debt. 

Yuuya is practical. He knows neither he nor Yuugo can take care of these kittens, but he too can’t abandon them. Yuuya would’ve done the same thing.

“We’ll help them,” Yuuya says. He sets a hand on Yuugo’s shoulder, gently squeezing it to get his attention. “I’ve got some ideas of people who can help us.”

That night, Yuuya calls Yuuto. He sits on the balcony with his feet kicked up to the sky, one of the kittens sleeping soundly on his chest. The rest of them sleep with Yuugo on Yuuya’s bed, a fact that Yuuya doesn't want to address until he has to. Yuugo looks so peaceful surrounded by the fuzzy blobs. Yuuya understands why Yuugo doesn’t want to give away the kittens, but …

“Yuuto, my roommate brought home a box of kittens and I don’t know what to do.”

Yuuto is a friend of Yuuya’s from duel school. The two of them met in a dimension-wide tournament bringing together hundreds of duel school and duelists. Yuuya has kept in touch with Yuuto ever since, who went on to university in Heartland. Yuuto doesn’t have any experience with animals or with Yuugo, but he’s practical. If anyone would have a solution to the problem, it would be him. 

“The kittens don’t have any identification on them?”

Carefully, Yuuya flips the kitten round. There’s no collar round its next or identification stamp inside its ear. There isn’t even any distinct markings on any of the kittens. They are simply a box of plain-looking, black and white kits.

“How about where the kittens were found? Were they by anyone’s house?”

Yuugo claims he found the kittens dumped under a tree by a park. There are suburbs nearby, but nothing that they could use to trace the kittens back to a house.

“Papers? Vaccinations? Anything?”

Yuuya laughs into the receiver. “Yuugo’s really outdone himself this time. But …” Seeing Yuugo with the kittens melts Yuuya’s heart. He couldn’t have stolen them and he’s taken good care of them so far. 

“You could take them to a shelter,” Yuuto suggests. “They’ll take them, make sure they have vaccinations, and they’ll find good homes for them. It’s better than trying to figure it out yourself, and I hate to say it but neither of you are qualified to be taking care of strays. You’ll do more harm than good if you try to raise them on your own.”

Yuuya nods. Explaining that to Yuugo might be hard, but Yuuya knows it’s best. These kittens deserve a happy, healthy life, and neither Yuuya nor Yuugo can give them what they need with their busy school schedules.

“You should explain this to my roommate,” Yuuya says. “You’re good with words.”

“I don’t know him though –”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“ – and this isn’t my problem. Yuuya, he’ll listen to you because you’re in this mess with him. Just talk to him. He must know deep down that he can’t take care of those kittens either, and he just needs some reassurance that there are people that  _ can.  _ He cares about them and wants a good life for them. Show him that the shelter can help them.”

When the conversation ends, Yuuya doesn’t feel any better. There’s a sick feeling deep in his stomach that only intensifies when he looks at his snoring roommate asleep on his bed surrounded by black-and-white fluffballs. The small kitten on Yuuya’s chest has fallen asleep too, eyes closed and cheek pressed to Yuuya’s collarbone. It would be a shame to give away such beautiful lives, but …

It’s for the best. 

Yuuya falls asleep on his balcony to the sounds of the wind and waves, to the sounds of the people above him playing drinking games, and to the sounds of the kitten purring against his chest. Yuuya will say goodbye to them, but he’ll treasure this moment forever.

The following morning, Yuuya wakes up with a terrible crick in his neck and the feeling of nails digging into his neck. The kitten has pounced on his shoulder and sunk its claws into the soft skin between by Yuuya’s neck, looking decidedly proud of itself with its blue eyes twinkling. Yuuya plucks the kitten free from his neck and rubs the tender area. 

He sneaks a glance behind him to where Yuugo is still crashed out on his bed. The only difference is that the lumps are moving, crawling over his head and arms and attempting to climb out of the bed. Before one of them jumps off the bed and breaks their legs, Yuuya hurries back inside and ushers them to the middle of the bed. They look hungry and Yuuya doesn’t have any way of feeding them.

“Yuugo, wake up.” He pushes his roommate’s shoulder; Yuugo doesn’t budge. “Yuugo, wake up.” This time, Yuugo stirs with a heavy groan, rolling to the side and away from the kittens. His hands fumble blindly at the sheets before he opens his eyes. It takes him two seconds to wake up: he sits upright, eyes wide.

“Where are they?” he says at once.

“Next to you,” Yuuya tells him. “They’re fine, but they’re hungry. You should get dressed. We need to take them to the shelter.”

“We can feed them –”

“We can’t.” Yuuya smiles, reaching out a hand to hold Yuugo’s. “We don’t have the time or money, and these kittens need a lot more than cuddles. You did a great thing by saving them, but they need a lot of attention that we just can’t give them. We’ve done what we can.”

Looking away, Yuugo huffs, “I could’ve taken care of them,” but his eyes betray how he feels. He knows. He probably knew when he found the crate in the first place and took them home. But he  _ tried,  _ and Yuuya knows that makes Yuugo feel better. Now it’s time to try something new. 

Yuuya pulls Yuugo to his feet; they’re the same height, but Yuugo has bulked out so much and Yuuya is still wiry as ever. Yuugo still won’t meet his eyes.

“Come on, let’s gather them up. We’ve got to take them somewhere.”

Yuugo nods.

They gather the kittens back up in the crate, adjusting the blankets so that they are all cosy and warm. The box  _ mewls  _ with each step they take down the hallway, then down the stairs, and then into the sunshine. They can’t take Yuugo’s motorbike, though he does suggest it on the walk down, so they take the bus instead. 

The bus.

With kittens.

For the entire half-hour ride to the shelter the kittens mewl and cry with hunger. Yuugo reaches into the box and strokes their heads, but they try to suckle at his fingers instead. Yuuya, meanwhile, keeps his eyes on the other passengers that watch them. A kitten isn’t as loud as a baby, but it’s a bit more distracting and surprising. They are the centre of attention for the entire trip over.

“I’m a proud father of kittens,” Yuugo says to Yuuya, only making Yuuya blush further.

Off the train, they step into one of the quieter city districts of Maiami. There are people bustling by who still give them second glances when the box of kittens mewls and cries, but being off the loud bus and in the open air makes the kittens calm a bit. While Yuugo carries the box, Yuuya leads them through quaint streets and towards the shelter.

The building they find is homey looking, appearing more like a townhouse than a centre. There are wide windows looking into the lobby area, and the entire building is made of warm-coloured wood. They head up the steps to a waiting area with a desk and a few chairs. There are framed awards pinned to the walls and little albums sitting on a desk of the various kittens that were adopted. It looks like such a lovely place that Yuuya already knows the kittens will be safe here.

They bring the box to the counter. The lady behind it has shocking green hair curling around her heart-shaped face, and she stares at them through rectangular glasses. When she hears the mewling, her face softens. “Kittens?”

“Found them under a tree,” Yuugo says. “Can you take them?”

The girl – Rin, Yuuya sees by her name tag – peeks over the crate to look at the kittens. Yuuya isn’t sure what she’s looking for, but she stares at the kittens for a bit before returning to her computer. “I … well …” She smiles. “I think I can take them. I’ll just need you two to fill out some information for me.”

That’s good news for Yuuya. Rin prints them out several documents to register to the kittens and to identify them as abandoned. Their personal information is taken so that the system can be aware if they are dropping off more and more kittens. Rin assures them their information won’t be personally attached to the kittens, but that this is a security measure in case people are abusing the shelter’s policies and purposefully adopting and abandoning kittens.

Had the kittens been younger, Rin says that she might have not been able to take them. Bottle-feeding kittens requires far more work than the centre can support, and the staff don’t have the time to take care of so many newborn kittens. However, these kittens are old enough to eat wet and dry food, and thus they require far less care.

“They’re in good hands,” Rin tells them when Yuugo starts sniffling at the desk. Another worker comes to take the crate away, and at once Yuugo grips the box tight.

“I need to say goodbye to them first.”

The worker lets go of the box.

Yuugo begins to sniffle, wiping at his eyes. “I’m going to miss you,” he says, voice cracking. “All of you that I didn’t name and barely know. You probably won’t even remember me, but I won’t forget all of you. Go to good homes, OK? Your papa loves you very much.” He bends down and kisses each one of the top of its head; when he rises, he gives one last look at the box before turning away to bury his face into Yuuya’s chest. By this point, and having lived with Yuugo enough to know how emotional he can be, Yuuya lets him.

“There, there,” Yuuya whispers. “They’re going to good homes. You did good, Yuugo.”

Yuugo only continues to bawl into his shoulder as the worker takes the kittens away. Yuuya gives them one last look too. They’re young and bright, full of life and hope. Yuugo made the right choice by saving them – they would have died had they not been found – and now he’s making the right choice again by putting them up for adoption. They’ll go to loving homes because of Yuugo’s compassionate actions.

“You did good,” Yuuya tells him. “You did good.”

Sniffling against his shoulder, Yuugo only nods. He takes a moment more to compose himself before lifting his teary face up to look at Yuuya. “You think so?”

“I do.” Turning to Rin, Yuuya thanks her for all her help and then leads Yuugo out of the shelter. It’s an even sunnier, warmer day now, perfect for spending it on the beach or at the park. As Yuuya looks to Yuugo, he feels his heart grow a bit lighter. Yuugo is so transparent and honest about his feelings … maybe Yuuya should be the same.

“Hey Yuugo?”

“Yeah?” He doesn’t look up, eyes still wet and red.

“Let’s go get ice cream. Neither of us have classes today, and we could use a break.”

There’s a flicker of a smile on Yuugo’s lips. His eyes are still downcast, but he lets Yuuya help him stand and walk him down the boardwalk. 

“You never know what surprises we’ll find along the way.”


End file.
